Fighting Between U.S. and Iran-backed Militias Escalates in Syria
Farnaz Fassihi, Raja Abdulrahim and Adam Entous - Yesterday 12:59 PM
Militias backed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards force attacked a U.S. military base in southern Syria with drones recently and on the same day, a different base used by the U.S.-led coalition near Syria’s eastern border with Iraq came under rocket fire.
U.S. officials saw the back-to-back strikes on Aug. 15 as more sophisticated than previous attacks and feared that more were coming. That set off a string of tit-for-tat attacks this week — including U.S. airstrikes on three consecutive nights against Iran-linked targets in Syria. They amplified tensions between two powerful adversaries fighting on a foreign battlefield.
The Americans made clear to Iran, through private channels as well as publicly, that they were not trying to escalate hostilities but only sought to protect U.S. interests, said a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters.
The flare-up was a reminder of how Syria, fractured and weakened by more than a decade of civil war, has provided a fertile ground for a multitude of proxy wars to play out involving Iran, Israel, the United States, Russia, Turkey and the Islamic State, among other actors. The U.S. military presence — roughly 900 service members — in Syria makes it a potential target of choice for those players looking to vent their grievances with Washington or its close ally, Israel.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/fighting-between-u-s-and-iran-backed-militias-escalates-in-syria/ar-AA118Knu?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=3cbf1f26d5a25d4982a8cf084d59a977
